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Would appreciate your opinions on the following conundrum, as has had be thinking for quite a while.
Which parent would the child whom residence / contact is in dispute over, be deemed to be better off with in the eyes of the court / cafcas?
The scenario:
- Both parents love the child equally and unconditionally (seems odd to state but for the sake of clarity)
- Regardless of which parent child lives with, child will be in nursery as both parents need to work.
- If the child in question is taken out of the equation, both parents are resident lone parents to children from respective previous relationships.
- Both parents have willing and able local immediate family support, in the form of grandparents and uncles / aunties.
- There are no issues of welfare either surrounding the child in question, or any of the half siblings or their parents.
- One parent is fully self sufficient financially, and able to provide stability of life and home, the other parent is 100% dependent upon child based benefits (child benefit / maintenance / tax credits etc), all of which will decline over time as children reach adulthood.
It may or may not be obvious which parent is which, however it is probably immaterial, my point is this, in terms of a fundamental comparison between parents the only thing that separates them is financial capability, even to the point that both are resident loan parents to other children already, and therefore even parental capability is not a question.
Like I said it's got me thinking, and thought I would throw it out there for others to ponder.
that's a tricky one - either way the result is not going to be in the child's best interests, and either way, the child is going to miss out on a half-sibling. It's a bit of a cop-out, but the best solution is really going to be some sort of shared care arrangement.
... Whichever parent stayed in the family home that the child in question lives at...There are no other issues, other than taking the child from its familiar surroundings. If the care the child would receive from each parent is the same, then the only thing to do would be to leave the child in the home he/she lives in and is familiar with. The courts place huge importance on disrupting the child as little as possible, and moving home would be considered disruptive.
I would hope that the split is amicable and that there was a lot of shared care going on that involved all the children from both sides.
I'm glad I'm not the only one puzzled by this!!
In answer to the questions raised, both parents have moved house, and as things stand one parent will have to move again in a few months as rental agreement clearly states that landlord wants to sell up rather than rent once the fixed term contract comes to an end. This may also result in a change of nursery as rentals of the size required in the village in question are something of a rarity.
As for being amicable, sadly not, the first hearing date for court has been scheduled as contact is being heavily dictated and controlled by the resident parent.
Another factor that has come to light during the case being compiled is that there are numerous 'questionable' incidents that in isolation are curious and strange but when viewed together, a pattern of manipulation begins to appear.
Before applying to the court, would have been happy to look for defined contact, now beginning to wonder whether or not in actual fact residency would be far more in the child's long term best interests. Albeit I would accept this is less 'best interests' and more 'least worst'!!
Without knowing the details, and on the assumption you don't have legal representation, you may want to contact CCLC via phone or their webchat facility and get some advice on the best course of action.
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